Fig 1: Intranasal 15d-PGJ2 induced apoptosis and suppressed inflammation in E2-treated OVX rats in a PPAR?-dependent manner. (A) Apoptosis in the pituitary gland was detected by TUNEL staining (n = 3 per group). Scale bar = 50 µm. (B) The ratio of TUNEL-positive cells was calculated. (C) Caspase-3 activity was determined by ELISA (n = 8 per group). (D) The expression of cleaved caspase-3, nuclear NF-?B p65, and cyto NF-?B p65 were determined by Western blotting (n = 6 per group). (E) Quantitative analysis of the protein expression of cleaved caspase-3 and nuclear NF-?B p65. (F) Quantitative analysis of the protein expression of cyto NF-?B p65. The levels of TNF-a, IL-1ß, and IL-6 in the pituitary gland were detected using the respective ELISA kits (n = 8 per group). Data are expressed as the means ± SDs. Statistical analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc tests. ##, p < 0.01 versus Sham; **, p < 0.01 versus vehicle-treated OVX + E2 rats; &&, p < 0.01 versus 15d-PGJ2-treated OVX + E2 rats.